Focus Walls in The Classroom!

... MAINTAINING A COLLECTIVE VISION!

"Yes!" "You can do it!"
"Great going, Micah!" 
" Stay focused!"

Nothing is more inspiring for students than to hear words of encouragement and support from their teachers. As an educator, I would say that our students need a learning environment that motivates them by communicating clear goals and a vision of success. An easy tool for accomplishing this is to designate an area in the classroom as a 'Focus Wall'.

What is a Focus Wall?

A focus wall is simply an area in the classroom that you choose to display curriculum to direct students in terms of key learning targets for the upcoming week. 

Tweet: It is like a vision board that keeps your students continually logged in towards their learning goals! Specific themes, topics, skills and strategies are posted on the walls and are great for launching and reviewing units.

Where Can I Place it?

You make any central point in the classroom a focal point, however, they are more meaningful when placed at the front of the class, near or behind the teacher's desk. Of course, if you don't have wall space to spare then you can use a tri-fold display board which can stand at the front of the class.

Components of a Focus Wall

So what do you put on a focus wall? Well, a focus wall can be used in all curricular areas, however, it is mostly geared towards the learning of ELA concepts. Some suggestions for the layout of a basic ELA focus wall are:-

Title of Theme

Brief Overview of Theme

Language Arts Standard/s

Genre

Comprehension Strategy

Comprehension Skill/s

Academic Vocabulary

Spelling Words/High Frequency Words

Many teachers add their own spin to this basic frame with one or more of the following ELA areas:

Story Title, Author, Illustrator

Grammar Skills

Writing Skills

Fluency Skills

Essential Questions (for Common Core State Standards)

Phonics

Words to Know

Enduring Understanding...and the list goes on!

Bottom line is that your focus wall is the place for putting curriculum learning targets for students to stay focused.

Examples of Focus Walls

There are a lot of examples of focus walls that you can find on pinterest or when you conduct a search on the internet for that matter. I included a few in this post. 

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Free Focus Wall Header

Here's a free focus wall header for you that's cute and colorful. Click on the words "I Got it" below to download it!

I Got it!

Comment!

How creative is your focus wall? Leave a comment below describing how you used your classroom space for a focus wall.

Focus Wall and Learning Target Headers!

Looking for a super cute focus wall set that really pops? Here it is! If you like my freebie and you want the whole elephant (ha ha), then click the picture below to go straight to my TpT store for purchase.